BLACKBOOK ART SPOTLIGHT
BLACKBOOK ART SPOTLIGHT From left: John Cox, creative director of The Current; Cox’s own The Fifth Season, hanging at the Baha Mar Grand Hyatt How to Paint a Scene The Caribbean region’s buzziest new resort is also a thriving arts community, discovers ERIN RILEY Baha Mar, the sprawling development that debuted in Nassau, Bahamas last year, has brought a new level of luxury to the Caribbean. There are hotels, like the 1,800-room Grand Hyatt (bahamar.grand.hyatt.com) and the recently opened Rosewood ( rosewoodhotels. com) – a stately colonial-style retreat with 237 rooms, suites and villas – as well as 19 restaurants (including an English pub and an upscale sushi spot), 11 pools, a golf course and a 2,800sq m ESPA spa. And then there is the Current, an arts complex that hosts artist residencies, rotating shows and workshops for guests, as well as a permanent exhibition – all under the guidance of prominent Bahamian artist John Cox, the centre’s creative director. “I see it as a cultural agency,” says Cox, who formerly served as chief curator for the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. Because The Current will have front-andcentre access to well-heeled tourists, Cox plans to show off the Bahamas’ artistic heritage. “But we’ll also focus on how Bahamian artists are working today,” he adds, citing MacArthur Fellow Janine Antoni, whose sculptural and performance pieces explore feminist issues. On display in Fairwind, the resort’s museum-style exhibition, is a digital drawing by 35-yearold mixed-media artist Lavar Munroe that explores the dynamics of Columbus’s arrival in the New World (which took place in the Bahamas). At the Grand Hyatt’s Blue Note lounge hangs Shake, Swing, and Goombay, a highly saturated painting of a scene of Bahamian dancers by local artist Max Taylor, whose work was among the collections of singer Nat King Cole and local business magnate Sir Harold Christie. Next door at the casino is London-based artist Lynn Parotti’s oil painting Reflections, which captures a scene of West Indian flamingos, the country’s national bird. More than an exhibition space, however, The Current is a creative incubator. The residency programme hosts local artists, working in a variety of disciplines, for several months at a time. Theodore Elyett, a Bahamas-born gown designer who showed at London Fashion Week, is collaborating with local artists to create sculptures that will be on display at the resort. There are also workshops for the guests on everything from acrylic pouring to straw plaiting, a traditional craft. “It’s about creating a community that both guests and locals can be a part of,” says Cox. bahamar.com/art PHOTOS FROM LEFT: © BAHA MAR; © GRAND HYATT 24 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM CONTACT CENTURION SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS
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